


Ambidex Game

by spacedaydreamer



Series: safe end!vlr au [2]
Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Fandom
Genre: Gen, and the conversations from after that, lets get this game hoppin, safe end!junpei au, safe end!vlr au, there's no real warnings because its mainly the first puzzle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 07:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10759992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedaydreamer/pseuds/spacedaydreamer
Summary: Junpei awoke to the sound of an irritating rabbit, and the crushing realization of what was happening. He'd been an idiot not to recognize it, really- of course this was going to be a trap. How could it be anything other than one? Well, he'd just have to find Aoi, and get himself and Quark out of here... but that was easier said than done.





	Ambidex Game

Junpei clutched his head in his hands and groaned when he woke up, his body feeling uncomfortably heavy. It was different than how he remembered that anesthetic working- it was something else entirely. He brushed it off quickly, though; it was likely just due to the moon’s gravity.

Once he’d reached that conclusion, he started looking around- he was alone, in what looked like some weird elevator shaft, with a bracelet strapped to his wrist.

“Oh, god _damn_ it- Quark? Quark?!”

He started yelling, and banging on the door, but no answer. Whatever this place was, it looked like it was soundproof. And even worse, it looked like he’d dragged Quark into one of those damn games… what had he been _thinking?!_ Of _course_ that note had been a damn trap!

“ _Yaaaaawn_. Geez Tenmyoldy, you sure take a long time to wake up.”

“Wh-what?”

He turned towards the direction of the voice- a little screen on the elevator panel, with a small rabbit inside it.

“What sort of joke are _you?_ ”

“Ouch, I’m _hurt_. I would’ve thought you’d be one to protect rabbits, not damage them like this!”

“You-“

He glared at the screen, but the rabbit-thing only laughed.

“Well, I’m sure you’re not an idiot, you’ve already figured out what’s going on here. It’s… the _nonary game!_ Ambidex edition.” The rabbit seemed pleased with itself at that announcement.  “Now, I’ve got two _very special_ messages just for you, Tenmyoldy!”

“Yeah? What are they.”

“First: It’s gonna be late December 2028 for everyone here. If you let on for even a second that the year is 2074, I’ll kill both you and Quark.”

“ _WHAT?!_ ”

“Hold up, I’m not done yet! I’ve still got one more very special message for you, don’t you want to hear it?”

He scowled, but didn’t say anything.

“Good good good! The second- if you tell anybody your first name, I’ll kill both you and Quark. I’m _aaaaalways_ watching, so I’ll know if you tell anybody! I guess there’s _one_ exception to these rules, though…”

“One exception? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I guess you can tell your sister whatever you want, but make sure she doesn’t tell anyone else! Because if she does, then your son’s good as dead.”

“You fucking _BASTARD!_ Where is Quark, tell me right now! Keep him _out_ of this!”

“Hey, it’s not _my_ fault you brought him along. We never asked you, that was all your decision.”

“He’s just a kid. He doesn’t deserve to be put into this- _you_ of _all people_ should know that.”

“Me? Hey, I’m just a rabbit. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit.”

“Ooops, look at the time! I forgot to mention- you’ve only got nine minutes left before this elevator falls. That happens, and it’s really not gonna matter whether or not you brought Quark into this… it’ll sure be a shame if he’s gotta lose his Grandpa, though! Have a nice trick.”

“What the- _what the hell?!_ ”

Junpei shouted at the screen, but it’d blinked off. Nothing he said or did gained him any answer, which meant he had to solve whatever puzzle was in here- and once he found Aoi, he was going to get some fucking _answers_ for this. Thankfully, the puzzle in the room was fairly straightforward. He hadn’t been stuck in a game like this since 2027, but he supposed some things never changed. The sense of adrenaline was just like waking up in that cabin on D deck, after the window cracked.

He groaned in frustration when it was the _top_ of the room that opened upon finally inputting the key he got from the safe, staring at it blankly for a while. His body felt slow, but he’d have to get out eventually… he figured they were just expected to use the moon’s gravity to get them out.

“Well… I don’t really have much of a choice.”

He sighed and scratched the back of his head in frustration, before giving a resigned grunt, taking a couple steps back, and jumping. He grabbed on to the edge of the hatch and pulled himself out with some effort, looking around to find himself not inside of a elevator shaft, but rather a large warehouse.

“Damn rabbit… should’ve guessed.”

Sure, the danger of drowning in that D deck cabin had been real, but the chances of the “ship” sinking were absolutely none considering that it hadn’t even been a ship. These games were designed for a specific reason, and letting him die before it’d even started defeated the entire point. He started scanning around the room while catching his breath, taking in what he could see. There were five other rooms like his, only one other having been opened, three brightly coloured doors that looked like they were shut tight, a door with a nine on it, and a large graffiti painting that reminded him a bit too much of something that he couldn’t quite place his finger on.

_‘TWO MILKMEN GO COMEDY_ ’

It sounded like nonsense, but Junpei figured there had to be a meaning. He found himself staring, but nothing came to mind.

_“…anagram? What could it mean?”_

_“Hey, ___? Do you remember what it said on the wall in the lounge?”_

_“Yeah, ‘___________________’. But, why?”_

_“I think that’s our base phrase. But, uh… I’m not too great at longer anagrams…”_

He blinked at the memory- vague and unfamiliar, as thought it didn’t quite belong to him. He was talking to someone- _who was it?_ No matter how hard he tried to remember, no face or name would come to mind. It was as if the memories themselves had been blurred out permanently.

Well, regardless of _what_ it was, the memory _was_ helpful. He stared at the letters for a while, trying to make sense of it, when he heard a voice.

“Sir? Excuse me, do you need help down?”

It was a woman’s voice, one that was far too familiar to Junpei. He blinked, and stared- _Alice?_ She didn’t look a day older than he remembered her, from when she and Nona had gone missing.

Wait… that rabbit had mentioned his _sister_. Was Nona here too?

Some family reunion _this_ was, he thought with a sigh.

“Sir? Are you alright?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry about that, I’ll get down.”

He climbed down from the top of the elevator and turned to face Alice, not really sure what to expect. Would she recognize him? No, that was impossible. Even if she thought he looked similar, the Junpei she’d known had been in his early twenties. He was an old man now, older than her- but how?

That was a question he’d have to answer later.

“Do you know where we are? And, what this is?”

She held up the bracelet strapped to her wrist, and he shook his head. It’d be smartest to play dumb, and not give any hint of who he was.

“Not a damn clue. Just woke up in that ‘elevator’ and some rabbit thing said it’s gonna fall. Solved the puzzles to get out, and here I am now.”

“It’s the same for me…”

There was a moment of silence, and after looking around the room, Alice spoke up.

“I’m Alice. You?”

“Oh, uh…” He paused. He’d been told not to use his name, so he’d _planned_ to just go by Tenmyouji, but if there was even the slightest chance that Nona might be here, it was far too risky. She’d know his name, and she could piece together who he was- if that happened when they were with the whole group, then Quark would… no, he wasn’t even going to think about that. However, that still left the problem of what to call himself. Junpei was impossible, but it wasn’t like he had any nicknames… and he hadn’t ever gotten a codename back during the nonary game that he could fall back on. What could he do?

“My name’s Carlos. Good to meet you, I guess.”

He offered his hand for a brusque handshake, and they went back to silence. It was like that for a few minutes longer, until they heard the sounds of another hatch opening. This time, it was another woman, one who looked uncomfortably familiar to him. She had red hair, and blue eyes…. Why did he feel like he’d met her before?

“Oh! There’s others here…”

She looked surprised yet relieved to find himself and Alice, and they both went to help her down.

“My name’s Luna. It’s very nice to meet you both.”

“I’m Alice, and this is Carlos. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry, but no… I just woke up in that room, and escaped from it…”

“Same with us.”

Junpei was listening to the two women talking, trying to figure out why she looked so familiar- and then it hit him. It was faint, and hard to recall exactly, but she looked almost exactly like one of the women from the Dcom experiment. Her name was… Diana? Yes, that was it. It was surprising to find someone this similar- hell, even her _name_ was similar, if you thought about themes. Could she perhaps be Diana’s granddaughter, or even a sister? He couldn’t ask, for obvious reasons, but he was curious nonetheless.

The two women continued with their pleasantries for a while longer, Junpei not paying much attention, until the next hatch opened. First out was some blond in a ridiculous looking coat, and he turned to pull someone out-

“ _Quark!_ ” Junpei had ran to the elevator before anyone could even react, and he watched as Quark’s eyes lit up. He hopped to the ground and ran into Junpei’s arms, hugging onto him tightly. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re safe… I was so worried.”

“You didn’t have to worry about me, Grandpa! Mr. Dio helped me get out of the room.”

Junpei looked up at the guy, and gave him a tired smile.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

His response was dry and bored, and it ticked Junpei off. However, that didn’t matter- all that mattered was that Quark was safe. Junpei lowered his voice and started to whisper, making sure not to let anyone else overhear what he was going to say.

“Quark, you can’t tell anybody what year it is. We’re gonna say we got grabbed December 23rd, 2028, ok? Please, promise me.”

“I promise, Grandpa.”

“Good. As well, I’ve gotta call myself Carlos, ok? That’s the name I had to tell them.”

“Carlos? But Grandpa, isn’t that…”

“Don’t worry about me, kid. I’ll be just fine.”

He smiled and patted Quark on the shoulder, then stood back up and turned to face the others.

“So, what’re these bracelet things? Mine’s got a… blue three? And it says pair.”

“Looks like I’m a green solo, I’ve got a three too…”

Everyone else shared their numbers and colours, but Junpei was wondering just what the hell the rules were for _this_ game. Couldn’t be a numbered door thing, if they all had three- your digital root was pretty damn limited in that case.

“Hey, any of you checked out this door yet?”

It was Dio, over by the largest door in the room, with a large ‘ _9_ ’ emblazoned cleanly on it. It was certainly nicer than the nine doors in the chapel, but not by much… he hadn’t even bothered checking it out, knowing that trying to open the 9 door by himself would be pointless.

Still, it couldn’t hurt to give it a look over… he’d just made it over, when they heard the next door open. He turned to look, and blinked. First out was Phi, looking much like Alice in that she hadn’t changed at all. Next out was a man who looked to be the same age as Junpei, with greying hair and one eye-

Impossible… Sigma?

_“Oh, don’t you remember? There was an accident- they had to call off the experiment. It started because one of the participants got really sick…”_

_“Who was it?”_

_“O-Oh, um…”_

_“Fine, nevermind. But.. what happened after that? where is everyone? Sigma, Mira, Eric… Aoi…”_

_“Mira and Eric are… dead. Sigma lost his arms and an eye… and Aoi…”_

The man there had two arms, but that was easily explained away with prosthetics. He’d seen how Light was able to move his fake arm back during the nonary game, so there was no reason for Sigma’s arms to look anything less than real. However, that left only one real question: why had _Sigma_ aged, but neither Phi nor Alice seemed to be a day older? It made no sense to him, and no matter how long he thought on it, he couldn’t quite figure out the reason.

“So, they grabbed you too, huh?”

“…grabbed?”

It seemed to take him a moment to understand what Junpei’d said, before the realization seemed to hit his face.

“Oooh, that’s right! I had just gotten in my car, when there was this weird white smoke…”

Sigma trailed off for a while, talking to the others, but Junpei found himself more than a bit suspicious. He was hardly acting like the Sigma he could remember- well, that might not be a fair thing to say. It had been 45 years, of _course_ he would be acting different. What was _actually_ suspicious was more _how_ he was acting. He didn’t seem like someone who’d lived through this hell of a world. Perhaps it was a bit harsh of a judgement, but he seemed… well, he kinda seemed like an idiot.

“So, you’d be Carlos then, sir?”

“Yeah.”

He was brought out of his thoughts when Sigma turned to address him again, but it only seemed to solidify the strangeness that was about him. They were the same age, it made no sense for him to say ‘sir’- he certainly didn’t seem like the overly formal type, especially considering the fact that he introduced Phi as a ‘malnourished harpy’.

Just what the hell was going on here?

Sigma claimed that he’d never seen Phi before, and Phi looked just as clueless. Even towards Luna, neither of them appeared to recognize how scarily similar to Diana she was. He could get them not recognizing _him_ , he could figure that there had to be a reason for Alice and Phi’s lack of aging, and something that’d explain who Luna was… but them not recognizing each other made no sense.

_“Tenmyouji, huh? Should’ve realized you’d be the ninth…”_

_“You’ll have to forgive the old man, he’s not very good at talking to people.”_

_“Uh, old man?”_

Junpei winced, but did his best to hide it. The memories were blurry, and hard to make out properly, but they sounded important. Phi had called Sigma an ‘old man’ during the Dcom experiment… and now, he was acting like a college kid. No, that was… surely, that was impossible, right? There had to be something else that made sense- Sigma’d probably gotten amnesia, and maybe whatever had kept Phi young had made her forget as well. There were a million more solutions, not all of them exactly _credible_ , but all of them sounded far more possible than _that_.

“Um, Sir? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Can I see your bracelet, there?”

“Oh, uh, sure…”

Junpei quickly managed to shrug off the headache by examining Sigma and Phi’s bracelets, finding that they were red pairs, and both had a three as well. Why so many threes?!

“Still, I figured…”

“Huh?”

“Quark, you and Dio show him your bracelets. That’ll explain things.”

“Ok, Grandpa!”

The group shared their colours and numbers, but it didn’t seem to clear things up for Sigma. Eventually Junpei just sighed- but it was Phi who spoke before him.

“Looks like we’re split up into pairs and solos, and split up by colour too. I guess everyone who was alone in an elevator is a solo, while we pairs are, well, paired. Sigma and I are the red pair, while Quark and Dio are the blue pair. Is _that_ simple enough for you?”

Sigma scowled a bit, but nodded. Phi was just as pleasant as Junpei remembered her… possibly even more prickly, although that could just be due to how fuzzy his memory was. Everything past the first day or two of Dcom was just… gone. He hadn’t even thought about it for years, but now he didn’t have much choice _other_ than to think about it.

“Ok, fine. That all makes sense. But then, what’s ‘pair’ and ‘solo’ mean?”

“Don’t got the foggiest idea.”

“That’s helpful.”

Junpei just shrugged, and let everyone else get back to talking. He was finding himself more distracted than usual, and he could only think of one real reason for it: there was one elevator that hadn’t been opened yet. Chances were high that Nona was in it, but beyond that… where was Aoi? Were Aoi and Nona paired together?

And if so… had Aoi planned this game? Or was he just another victim…

_Hah_ , not likely. There was little doubt in his mind that Aoi was at least partially behind this. Carlos had said Aoi was going to call Sigma and Phi to the moon 45 years after the reactor explosion, which meant he was probably the one who’d orchestrated this entire thing. It pissed him off, but he wouldn’t even have a chance to face him about it- if Junpei attempted to bring that up, it’d either out what year it was, or it’d turn everyone on Aoi. And, if everyone turned on him, assuming he was Zero… there was _no way_ that Aoi’d get out alive.

Conversation continued for some time, but it was nothing that Junpei hadn’t guessed. There might be someone in the last elevator, the order they’d gotten out, and that they were all carrying nothing. Well, that last part wasn’t _entirely_ true- Junpei could still feel his wallet tucked safely into his shirt pocket, a thin fabric thing that only carried two slips of paper. He was grateful that they hadn’t taken it- those were close to the last mementos he had left. Perhaps it’d been foolish to take them along with him, considering how important they were to him… but he didn’t like leaving them behind.

He’d gotten fully distracted by his thoughts, when they heard the final hatch open.

“Look!”

Quark had pointed at the opening, and Junpei turned to look. He did his best not to be obvious, but the anticipation was killing him- it _had_ to be Aoi, right? Surely, it was him.

His hopes were immediately dashed when he found that it was instead some strange masked man- or perhaps, not even a man- who came out of the hatch instead. They seemed to have no trouble jumping to the ground, and they were carrying someone in their arms…

“Nona!” It was Alice who identified her, running over to the person without a moment’s hesitation. “Nona? Nona, are you ok?!”

Nona didn’t answer, and Junpei felt a twinge of fear in his chest. He knew that she wouldn’t recognize him, but that didn’t change the fact that she was still an important person to him. It just had to be the anesthetic. Surely, that was all it was.

“What did you do to her?!”

“I did nothing. She was like that when I woke up. I really wouldn’t worry though, she should be alright. Her breathing is steady, I believe she’s only sleeping.”

The voice was slightly distorted from behind the mask, but it sounded distinctly masculine. Junpei could hardly trust this masked figure, but he figured he’d better speak up, as Alice had gone back to worrying over Nona.

“So then, she hasn’t woken up since they kidnapped her?”

“…kidnapped? Begging your pardon, but I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean. Where are we? And… who are you?”

“That’s a lot of questions, there.”

“Yeah, just hold on. Who exactly are _you?_ ” Sigma spoke up before the masked man could give any more comment, his arms crossed. “You leap outta one of those rooms with an unconscious girl in your arms, and we’ve only got your word that you didn’t make her that way. You’d better get talking.”

“I’m…” The figure put a hand to his masked chin, and seemed to fumble for a short while. “I’m… who _am_ I?”

The others continued to drill the guy for a while, but Junpei had to supress a laugh. Another big guy, who just so happened to be an amnesiac… what were the odds, right? At least this time he’d gotten to know that right from the start, unlike with Seven. He eventually introduced himself as ‘K’, but Junpei stopped paying attention once Nona started to wake up.

“She’s waking up! Nona, are you ok? C’mon, talk to me!”

“A…Alice? Where… where are we?”

She seemed groggy, but she was otherwise alright. Junpei was glad for that… but who would’ve guessed that he’d be seeing _her_ again? For just a second, his mind drifted to Seven and Hazuki and Ennea- no. He couldn’t think about them now.

Nona reacted understandably poorly when Alice brought up the nonary game, her face going pale and hugging her arms around herself. She started to whisper something to Alice, who only shook her head. Junpei _wished_ he could find out what they were talking about, but saying something was too risky and he was certain he’d look suspicious if he tried to get any closer to he could eavesdrop.

Resigned, Junpei turned back to K. If he couldn’t do anything for Nona and Alice, he could at _least_ see if there was _anything_ he remembered. However, no matter how many questions they asked, everything turned up completely blank. Luna’s face fell the more they asked, until she eventually spoke up with a prognosis.

“I believe he has generalized amnesia… it’s a type of memory loss. People affected retain general knowledge like language and social skills, but everything pertaining to themselves is… gone.”

“Oh, bullshit. This guy’s obviously full of it- don’t tell me you actually _buy_ this, do you?”

Junpei threw an eyebrow up at Dio’s little outburst. He seemed to be the rather argumentative type, and Junpei wasn’t too sure how much he liked him. In the end, it really didn’t matter whether or not K was lying- it wasn’t like lying could get him out of this situation. He was trapped here with a bracelet strapped to his wrist, just like the rest of them.

Conversation started to slow while Sigma attempted to force one of the coloured doors in the warehouse open. It didn’t open (obviously), and while Sigma and Luna spoke, Quark suddenly interrupted.

“Hey, whaddyou think that is?”

He’d pointed at the letters on the wall, eyes wide with curiosity.

“I think someone’s trying to say hello.”

“Huh?”

Junpei had been continuing to play with the letters in the back of his head whenever a lull in conversation game up, and he thought he might have an idea for what it was. Before he could answer though, Phi spoke up.

“It’s an anagram. You rearrange the letters to get something else.”

“What?”

“Seriously- have you _never_ seen an _anagram_ before?”

Sigma blinked indignantly at Phi’s tired sigh, but couldn’t come up with a response before she shrugged her shoulders and started spelling it out in the dust on the floor.

_TWO MILKMEN GO COMEDY_

_WELCOME TO MY KINGDOM_

“Get it now?”

“Oh, yeah… just like that…”

Sigma nodded, and Junpei did as well.

“Seems like someone was expecting us, doesn’t it?”

“True, but… where are they? Seems pretty rude to invite someone over and not even offer them a drink.”

“Fair. But you’re assuming Zero isn’t one of us.”

The revelation came as a shock to everyone else, but to Junpei it was something he’d already expected. Even if Aoi somehow wasn’t here, _someone_ here was _certainly_ his accomplice. He doubted it’d be Nona or Alice, considering their abduction all those years ago, and he _knew_ it wasn’t him or Quark. However, that left Sigma, Phi, K, Dio, and Luna. Each one of them was completely capable of being Zero.

“Hehehe… eehehehe…ehehehehehe!”

The group turned to look towards the highly irritating laugh, finding a sort of screen projection on one of the walls. It was one of those newer models from the moon, something fancy and high-tech. (Which meant that Junpei wasn’t a fan. _Especially_ not if it was housing that annoying rabbit.)

“Shame on you, Phido! You can’t say what I’m about to say before _I_ say it! I’ve got a plan you know, I can’t just tell you everything at once. Although, things _are_ starting to get exciting… ehehehe!”

“Oh, fuck off! Where the hell are you hiding, you little rat?! Get out here so I can deal with you myself.”

“B.O., are you an idiot? I’m a _rabbit_. Do you _really_ think a talking rabbit is a real thing?”

“Of course I don’t! You’re probably some CG thing- but that’s not what I meant!”

“Oooooh, you meant the person controlling me, didn’t you? I guess you really aren’t that sharp…”

“ _What?_ ”

“Weren’t you _listening?_ Phido already _told_ you.”

“Wait, so then… Zero is one of us?”

Sigma seemed pretty upset by that prospect, but Quark shook his head.

“Are you sure? You’re responding to our questions right now… wouldn’t you need somebody to be plugging in your responses? You couldn’t be a video someone made…”

“Oh, Quirk. I’m an _AI_. Aaaaaaaall my thinking’s done in a quantum computer, and those answers are sent to me. Zero’s just the one who _programmed_ me, they’re not actually _controlling_ me. Still, I guess that makes one of you my parent! I wonder…. Are you a mommy rabbit? Or a daddy? Hehehehe… that would be telling!”

The rabbit burst out into another round of laughter, and Junpei felt his eye twitching. This thing sure was irritating…

“Now, I think you’re all clever enough to figure I’m not the one who brought you here. I’m just… the facilitator of this facility. I just do what I’m told to do!”

“And what do you… facilitate?”

“The game, of course!”

“The… game?”

Luna’s question seemed to get the rabbit even more excited, as it spent the next while explaining the rules. Nona took it understandably poorly, and Junpei would admit that he wasn’t exactly _enjoying_ being stuck in one of these again- but he’d made his choice, and now he had to deal with it.

The explanation of BP and the nine door gave him a basic understanding of why everyone had a three. Not perfect, but at least he knew that this wasn’t anything to do with digital roots. The way it said ‘penalty’ made him shiver... had they had bombs planted inside of them this time, as well? He had to pray that it was a no; he didn’t want Quark to have to experience that terror. This entire game was already bad enough…

They’d gotten a bit stuck when asking how to go about getting _more_ BP, though. They needed into the AB rooms, but all the doors were locked. Eventually, Zero told them to hit the buttons on the bracelet. He did, and it showed a time- Junpei wasn’t sure _why_ , but that felt familiar. Was it because of the bracelet from the nonary game? He’d pressed the buttons on the bracelet then, but it’d never given him a time… well, anyways, the numbers had to mean something.

“00:09… Is this the amount of time until the chromatic doors open?”

“Ding ding ding ding! That’s exactly right, Carpe!”

He felt his eye twitch once more at the nickname. This little rabbit’d called him something completely different in the AB room… had it known what fake name he was going to pick? Surely, that was impossible…

The rabbit either didn’t notice Junpei’s reaction or it didn’t care, because it launched right back into its explanation about the chromatic doors, as well as the secondary doors. It seemed a bit similar to the function of the reds and the deads, but somehow on an even _more_ strict deadline. However, at the very least they wouldn’t need to worry about running in a panic to find the dead. In a strange and contradictory way, this game seemed both more and less humane. They’d allowed for Quark to come, who Junpei was _certain_ had nothing to do with whatever reason this game was being held; but on the other hand the timelines for everything seemed to be well set-out, and it was clear from the start that it was possible for all of them to get out.

Did he _expect_ them to all get out? No, of course not. Humans weren’t that naturally trusting, and when launched into a situation like this it’d bring out the worst in anyone. He had little doubt that someone would die before this game was over… and probably multiple times.

“Well, that’s all! Looks like none of you have any questions.”

“What- of _course_ we have questions!”

Sigma started shouting at the rabbit, demanding all sorts of answers, but he was cut short by an electronic tone, and the sounds of something unlocking. A voice sounded over the speakers, and Junpei felt his face pulled into a frown. The voice was male, and strangely familiar… he felt like he hadn’t heard it in a long time, and yet he knew it very well.

But, why was that?

“Chromatic doors have opened. Five minutes remain until chromatic doors close.”

“Oooooh, so sorry guys, but it looks like your time’s up. You’d better hop to it and get those secondary doors open!”

“Oh, shut up! No way in hell we’re gonna open shit, we’re not just gonna go along with this!”

Dio was the one who spoke, but everyone else seemed to be in various stages of agreement. The rabbit didn’t care though- why would it?

“Unfortunately, you have no choice but to follow the rules. You see, when the time comes, those three doors will automatically close. And if anyone’s left outside _after_ they close, well… they’ll be penalized.”

Again, Junpei didn’t like the way it said that. His suspicions were confirmed the moment Dio pressed the rabbit harder, one word that formed a pit in the bottom of his stomach.

"What's the penalty?"

“Death.”

The death was by poison, and not by bomb, but that _hardly_ made it any better. It was still an execution, did the _method_ really matter? The entire group appeared to be in shock, but Quark looked like he was taking it particularly poorly… _dammit!_ Junpei just wanted to _hit_ himself, how could he have _ever_ thought it would be safe to bring Quark along?! Even if- no, even _when_ Quark got out, he was still going to have this scarring him for the rest of his life…

Junpei wanted to yell, he wanted to shout, he wanted to figure out whoever Zero was and _throttle_ them for allowing Quark to be put through this- but there was no time. The rabbit had ‘hopped’ off the screen, leaving them with nothing but their own thoughts and a growing sense of panic as the same male voice sounded over the speakers.

“Three minutes remain until chromatic doors close.”

The group started to break down into confusion, and it was Phi who spoke up to clear what they could do. She laid out each of the three options, and when she was done, she looked back at everyone.

“So? What’re we going to do.”

“S-Sigma… please, pick for us.”

“Wh-what?!”

“Once one of us picks, the rest of us will have to follow. Please, just choose!”

He seemed thrown off by Luna’s insistence, but they had no time to think. They needed to get through those doors, so that Quark would be safe. Junpei wouldn’t raise an opinion on which door he wanted, he’d wait for the choice- he just needed Sigma to _hurry!_

“One minute remains until chromatic doors close.”

“Alright, alright! I’ll pick.”

There was sweat visible on Sigma’s brow, likely from the pressure. His eye scanned the group, then the doors, and then went back to the group. Alice, Luna, or him… who would Sigma choose? What doors would they be going through? Eventually his eye settled, and he nodded.

“I pick—”

**Author's Note:**

> aaah, suspense! Sorry to leave you all on a cliffhanger there, but it was really the best way for me to make sense of things structurally. (Plus, I hope it'll have you anticipating the next fic...) I've got a pretty good outline of the order for endings I want to do, it's now just a matter of playing vlr and writing up the fics! The timeline branching does make things a touch more complicated, but I think I've figured out a decent enough way to make sense of it, without ruining the progression for these as a series. Unfortunately It'll likely take me a little while before the nest one, as I'll be away from my computer for school for a couple weeks, but I'll do my best to see if I can get an update out pretty soon after that. I won't make any promises on timeline though, life can be unpredictable sometimes.
> 
> a little fun note, Zero Jr's nickname for "Carlos" is from Carpe Diem, or 'seize the day' in latin. I went with it both for the meaning, but also because carpe is pronounced the same as carpei, as in carlos/junpei. Is Zero hinting at Junpei's real name? Or, is he perhaps suggesting he knows about their relationship? Who knows...
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading! Every Kudos and comment means the world to me, I really do love reading them over. Please look forwards to the next entry!


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